support for the shooter. the father of the man who shot and killed florida teen trayon martin says martin threatened to kill his son. >> you're going to die now or you're going to die tonight. end game? as the gop candidates battle for votes, mitt romney is picking up a pair of key endorsements. midair meltdown. criminal charges are filed against the jetblue pilot who had to be restrained by passengers. this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, march 29, 2012. good morning, everybody, and thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. we begin with the investigation into the shooting death of florida teen trayvon

martin. the father of george zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot the unarmed teenager, says his son was trying to protect himself. in an interview with the fox affiliate in orlando, robert zimmerman says martin confronted his son, quote, trayvon martin then got on top of him and started beating him in his face, in his nose and hitting his head on the concrete. >> he continued to beat george, and at some point george pulled his fist and did what he did. >> but zimmerman appeared uninjured in this surveillance video, obtained by abc news. zimmerman is seen being led through the sanford police station after martin was shot dead. there does not appear to be any blood on zimmerman's face or on the back of his shaved head. the lead investigate in the case wanted to arrest zimmerman but was told there was not enough evidence. zimmerman remains free but he is in hiding. in the race for the republican presidential

nomination, mitt romney has had a hard time shaking off his rival rick santorum. where he hasn't struggled is gaining endorsements, including chris countrity, john mccain and jeb bush. today romney will be in texas to pick up the support of president george h.w. bush. last night romney added endorsement of one of the gop's rising stars. florida senator marco rubio threw his support behind mitt romney on fox news wednesday night. >> not only because he's going to be the republican nominee but he offers at this point such a stark kron trast to the president's record. >> rubio has been tauted as a potential running mate for the eventual nominee. last night he said he's focused on his current job. despite romney's momentum, the fight for republican votes goes on. rick santorum spent the day campaigning in wisconsin ahead of next week's primary. meanwhile, newt gingrich was in washington one day after he

announced he was cutting his campaign staff. and the former house speaker got more bad news. sheldon addleson, told the website jewishjournal.com, time has run out for gingrich. >> it appears as though he's at the end of, because mathematically he can't get anywhere near the numbers and it's not likely to be a brokered convention. >> the general election is still more than seven months away but the eventual nominee may face an uphill battle against president obama. a quinnipiac university poll shows the president leading both mitt romney and rick santorum in the key states of ohio, florida and pennsylvania. congressman ron paul spent the day campaigning in maryland ahead of tuesday's primary. he told reporters he has no plan to drop out of the race. the nine justices of the supreme court will now consider the constitutionality of president obama's health care law in private. yesterday on the third and final day of public argument, the

justices considered what would happen if they struck down part of the law and the expansion of medicaid. >> reporter: some supreme court justices seemed open to the idea that part of the health care reform act can survive, even if they strike down its core. but they asked probing questions about what happens to the rest of the law if they determine the requirement for all americans to buy insurance is unconstitutional? >> my approach would say if you take the heart out of the statute, the statute's gone. >> reporter: attorneys general from dozens of states are pushing for the court to throw out the whole law. >> it needs to go back to congress with a clean slate, start over. even there are good provisions in the bill. >> reporter: the court also sent this third and final day of arguments looking into the section of the law requiring states to expand their medicaid program. >> many families take for granted they have health coverage. there are a lot of low income

families that don't. the medicaid expansion in particular provides that kind of care. >> reporter: the states argue the federal government has no right to force them to spend millions of dollars to expand medicaid but admits it was not the strongest part of their case. >> even if the courts did nothing more than strike down the individual mandate, it would be a very significant victory. >> reporter: a spokesman for the president is confident the justices will rule in the administration's favor. >> there's no contingency plan in plate. >> reporter: justices are expected to issue their ruling in june. danielle nottingham, cbs news, the supreme court. the american soldier charged with killing 17 afghan civilians suffered a traumatic incident while sevrving in iraq. sergeant robert bales served three tours in iraq before being shipped to afghanistan. attorney john henry browne wouldn't say what the traumatic

incident was but said it triggered depression. we are learning more about the midair meltdown of a met jew pilot. clayton osbon is charged with interfering with flight crew. susan mcginnis has more. >> reporter: good morning, betty. this odd behavior may are started even before that flight took off. this pilot was late for the flight that day. he missed the preflight briefing. according to an affidavit, these incoherent comments happened at takeoff. jetblue pilot passengers had to pin down in midair who has been charged with interfering with a flight crew. a federal affidavit say captain osbon was incoherent while at the control and turned off the plane's radios. according to documents, the 49-year-old then told his co-pilot, we need to take a leap of faith and we're not going to vegas. >> flight 191 we have to go to

amarillo. >> reporter: realizing there was a problem, the co-pilot locked the captain out of the cockpit and requested an emergency landing. mark was sitting in the front row. >> i'm looking at this happening and i'm -- he's getting more and more rye lent. >> reporter: when the incident escalated, he helped subdue the captain glee started yelling to the flight deck, throttle to idle, throttle to idle. bring this plane down! al qaeda is here. >> reporter: what caused the captain's behavior is still not known. the fbi is investigating. jetblue has suspended osbon with pay. he's been with the airline for 12 years and has no disciplinary record. fred walker, also a pilot, says he's known osbon for at least ten years. >> he was just an all-around good guy. >> reporter: he says this incident is out of character and says pilots deal with a lot of stress. >> there's stress in flying, especially when you have 200 people sitting behind you depending on you. >> reporter: when the flight landed in texas tuesday, security restrained osbon and he's reportedly undergoing a

mental health evaluation at this texas facility. still a lot more information to be revealed, of course, but if osbon is convicted he faces up to 20 years behind bars and a $250,000 fine, betty. >> susan mcginnis in washington, thank you. firefighters in colorado are still trying to contain a deadly wildfire south of denver. some 400 firefighters are on the scene. two people have been found dead in the fire zone and at least 27 homes are been damaged or destroyed. colorado's governor has suspended the use of state-prescribed burns to reduce vegetation. it's believed such a burn started the deadly wildfire. coming up on the "morning news" the pope pilgrimage. he wraps up his trip to cuba with a meeting with fidel castro and has strong words for the u.s. first, scott pelley has a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." it's one of america's most treasured places honoring on nation's war heroes. we'll give you a rare look at

some of the mementos that have been left behind at the vietnam veterans memorial. that's tonight on the "cbs evening news." people keep asking me if that lady in the viva commercial is really my mother. they keep asking me if the dirty guy is really my son. huh -- what do you tell 'um? holy smokes, these viva towels really are tough, even when wet! [ mike ] for the record, that's my real father, cleaning up a real mess on a real grill. see? very impressive! you're a natural. oh that's much better... dad's got his tough mess, i've got mine.

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ask your rheumatologist how you can defend against... ...and help stop further joint damage with humira. baghdad hosts a one-day arab league summit today. arab leaders will call for syria to stop its crackdown on antigovernment rebels, but syria has already said it will not agree to any resolution. video posted on social media yesterday shows more shelling in the city of homs. the u.n. estimates more than 9,000 people have been killed since last year. pope benedict returns to the vatican today. he wraps up his three-day visit to cuba yesterday. at an open-air mass in havana before he left, the pope demanded more freedom in cuba and an end to the u.s. trade embar embargo. the 84-year-old pontiff also met with fidel castro. on the "cbs moneywatch," bank of america ceo gets a big raise. and facebook gears up for its

ipo. ashley morrison is here in new york with that and more. good morning. >> good morning. overseas markets dipped for a second day in a row. nikkei lost more than 0.5% while the hang seng fell more than 1%. falling commodity prices triggered another selloff on wall street. the nasdaq clipped 15. energy stocks were down on the news that oil prices were beginning to ease. the price of crude oil slipped $2 to $105 a barrel. prices moved downward after france said it was considering releasing some of its emergency oil stockpile. the united states government denied a recent report that said the u.s. and britain were planning a similar move. bank of america's chief executive got a hefty pay raise in 2011. brian moynahan received $7.5 million in compensation last year. that is six times what he earned in 2010. he received the salary of $950,000 plus more than $6

million in stock. in 2011 bank of america stocks lost more than half of its value. the bank's board says the pay is justified because b of a turned a profit after losing money in 2010. and according to a report in "the wall street journal," facebook could go public in may. facebook stopped trading of shares on the secondary market in week in preparation for what many believe could be the intigest internet ipo in history. the social networking site filed the necessary papers with the fdc in february. betty, that will be a big day on wall street. >> we're already talking about it. ashley morrison here in new york, thank you. the music world is mourning the death of bluegrass and ban joe legend earl scruggs. ♪ look at him go. that's him back in 1965 performing at the grand ol' opry. he was inducted into the country music hall of fame in 1985.

you can hear his picking on the theme to "the beverly hillbillies." he died wednesday in nashville. earl scruggs was 88 years old. h. [ speaking in japanese ] yeah, do you have anything for a headache... like excedrin, ohhh, bayer aspirin... ohh, no no no. i'm not having a heart attack, it's my head. no, bayer advanced aspirin, this is made for pain. [ male announcer ] bayer advanced aspirin has microparticles, enters the bloodstream fast, and safely rushes extra strength relief to the sight of your tough pain. feel better? yeah...thanks for the tip! [ male announcer ] for fast powerful pain relief, use bayer advanced aspirin. is another way to look at the bean. another way that reveals the lighter, mellower side of our roast. introducing delicious new starbucks blonde roast. the lighter roast perfected. ♪

here a look at today's forecast for some cities around the country. new york, partly cloudy, 57. miami, sunny, 82. partly sunny in chicago, 55 there. dallas, partly sunny, 82. turning sunny in l.a., 73 today.

let's get a check of your national forecast. a few showers or wet snow is possible across eastern new england. mild weather continues across much of the south. large hail, damaging winds and the threat of tornadoes are possible from nebraska to eastern kansas. and a new pacific storm will roll into the northwest bringing heavy rain and mountain snow. to sports now. you probably missed baseball season opener between the mariners and the a's because it was played yesterday morning in japan. seattle's ichiro suzuki is a huge star there and had a huge game. he got four hits, including an rbi single up the middle in the 11th inning. mariners beat oakland 3-1 and go for the two-game sweep this morning. in basketball, spurs racked up their sixth straight victory. tim duncan popped in 18 points against the sacramento kings. nice floater in the fourth quarter put san antonio up by seven. he finishes with 19 to help the

stars beat the kings 117-112. kevin love is playing like an mvp. he poured in 40 against charlotte and had 19 rebounds. this month he's averaging over 30 points a game. minnesota edges past the bobcats 88-83. and in hockey, the new york rangers have moved to the top of the nhl standings. and they did it against the jets on home ice in winnipeg. brian boyle snapped in his own rebound in the third period to give new york the lead. the rangers rally past winnipeg 4-2. when we return, filling a health care gap. we'll take you to a texas clinic that sefbz the uninsured and takes the pain out of costly doctor visits. healthy my mouth is right now. i wish i could keep it this way. [ male announcer ] even after a dental cleaning... plaque quickly starts to grow back. but new crest pro-health clinical plaque control toothpaste can help. it not only reduces plaque, it's also clinically proven to help keep plaque from coming back. plus, it works in these other

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here's a look at today's forecast for some cities around the country. washington, d.c., partly sunny, 65. atlanta, thunderstorms, 81. partly sunny in st. louis, 74

there. denver, sunshine, 72. rain in seattle, 51 degrees. there is encouraging news in the fight against cancer. a new report says since 1999 cancer rates in the u.s. have dropped about a half percent ever year pipt now down 1.5% annually in adults. health officials say better screenings and treatments are the reason cancer rates keep falling. currently the health care law mandates that all americans must have health insurance, but if the supreme court strikes it down that could leave millions of americans uninsured. ben tracy reports. >> pick up your pretty feet for me, darling. >> reporter: 9-year-old georgia had a big wood splinter lodged in her foot. >> hold mommy's hand really tight. >> reporter: a visit to a doctor was an option. her mom does not have health insurance. it would cost her $400 a month.

>> that's a girl. >> we need groceries and, you know, pay bills. and insurance is too much right now. i was was like, we have to go to the emergency room for this because there was nowhere to go. >> reporter: her best alternative was here, this houston area strip mall. on most days how many pashs are you seeing? >> averaging between 15 to 20 patients. >> reporter: melissa opened this unique clinic last june to provide care for those without insurance. the 31-year-old nurse practitioner is allowed to do almost everything a general practitioner can do except deliver a baby. >> when you think of, you know, uninsured you think of poor, you think of low income, you think of, you know, a tiny shack house with someone with no amenities. that's not the case anymore. i kind of noticed, i bridged that gap for those patients. i was able to be that in-between so they could get the care they needed before, you know, emergency or disaster struck. >> reporter: she financed the clinic her.

the office staff include both her parents. she charges just $50 per visit and near wholesale prices for medicine. this antibiotic cost her $2. and what do you charge for an injection? >> i charge $15. >> reporter: what would that be if someone went to a doctor's office? >> $95 to $100. >> reporter: why the difference? >> insurance. >> reporter: the texas academy of family physicians says an emergency room visit for georgia's splinter would have cost as much as $900. when the uninsured end up at the er, their costs are passed on to paying customers. and fewer businesses, less than half of texans, get health coverage from their employer. a problem melissa knows well. >> i don't have insurance. i can't afford it for myself. at least $200 every two weeks. i can't afford that right now. because of that, i don't have insurance. >> reporter: and the problem keeps growing.

she saw 183 patients last week, the most since she's opened her clinic doors. >> bye, thank you. >> reporter: ben tracy, cbs news, houston. new i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." ocean spray cranberry juice versus vegetable juice. first the cranberry. mm! tasty. now, the vegetable juice, with more than 10 times the sodium of cranberry juice. we have a winner! you take those little steps of prevention. so if you suffer from heartburn 2 or more days a week, why use temporary treatments when you can prevent the acid that's causing it -- with prevacid 24hr. frequent heartburn sufferers can't control acid from rising up and causing pain, but with one pill prevacid 24hr works at the source

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good morning and welcome to 9news now. we're in the home stretch. it's thursday march 29. i'm andrea roane. >> thank you for joining us, i'm mike hydeck. monika samtani is off. beverly farmer will have timesaver traffic momentarily. we start with howard bernstein who called it letter perfect

yesterday. >> thank you. >> deadon. >> the afternoon showers and storms they pushed through and they're gone now. behind it some cooler air moves in. this morning still holding on to a few 60s now but i expect temperatures to drop over the next few hours and not a bad day here. thursday here, friday eve. sunshine a little bit of a breeze, gusts 25 to 30 and temperatures getting back up into the low and possibly middle 60s here. sunrise at 6:57 but a nice dry sunny day. get the sunscreen if you're going to be outside. it's getting stronger and stronger every day now. there's the line of showers and thunderstorms yesterday. moved pretty quickly through the region to the south and southeast and this morning see how we've cleared. there are some clouds up in pennsylvania in morning but we're looking pretty good out here. temperatures are running in the mid 50s now in hagueers down and reagan national 62 degrees. i guess next time i'm on you will see me. looking at the highs today. about 64 here in washington.

some areas up to hagerstown, cumberland you may stay in the upper 50s. now the beverly farmer in for monika this morning. working with some well just pulling the barrels out of the roadway really. that's the biggest trouble on the interstates right now. overnight roadwork, here's the beltway new hampshire between college park and new hampshire avenue. work crew had been along the right side of the roadway. northbound on 95 the work is at 32 savage columbia and one year the exit i-95. no reported delays with the slight volume through the work zone. no reported troubled downtown. work had been on the outer loop of the beltway right near 50 arlington. here's 395 such light volume i can count the cars on one hand on the gw parkway and the inbound 14th street bridge. mike, back to you. thanks beverly. new police video obtained bid

abc news shows no blood on the neighborhood watchman who shot and killed the florida teenager last month. it shows police escorting george zimmerman into the sanford police station the night of the shooting. >> now zimmerman told police he shot trayvon martin in self- defense after the 17-year-old allegedly slammed his head into the ground and broke his nose. randall pinkston picks up the story from there. >> reporter: the police surveillance video shows the first moving images the public has seen of george zimmerman. obtained by abc news the video shows a handcuffed zimmerman being led through the sanford, florida police station shortly after trayvon martin was shot dead. what you don't see is any obvious blood on his face or on the back of his shaved head. zimmerman told police he killed martin in self-defense after the teen allegedly attacked him from behind, slams his head against the sidewalk and broke

his nose. zimmerman remains free but now we're learning sanford police nearly arrested him. lead investigator chris serino on the right here wanted to file manslaughter charges but was told there wasn't enough evidence. the case is now in the hands of a special prosecutor. investigators are reinterviewing witnesses and examining 911 calls. >> reporter: authorities want to know who was yelling for help before the gunshot. >> all right -- >> reporter: what are the latest protests over martin's death came wednesday on the house floor in washington. illinois congressman bobby rush wore a hooded sweatshirt similar to what martin wore the night he was shot to speak out against racial profiling. >> just because someone wears is hoodie does not make them a hoodlum. >> reporter: he was led off the floor and reprimanded. the police video was likely to inspire more protests